Putovanje
by D.K. Rhoswen
Summary: Sequel to The Crossing. "Love is a journey, not a destination"....
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is the sequel to my story _The Crossing_. its probably best if you read that story first. The title of my story is in serbian, which i got the idea for thanks to some brainstorming with my good friend _Socraticmethod(thanks for all the help 3). I hope you enjoy this first chapter, and as always thank you for reading and if you have time please review =]**

It was just supposed to be every three years.

Nikola had picked the number of years, and Helen had not been in the least bit surprised when he picked the lowest of his favorite numbers. As it turned out, three was the perfect amount. Because by the time the first two and a half had passed Helen and Nikola were both getting ready to forgo their promise and fly out to see the other.

So it was that every three years they had traveled to Italy, to Helen's villa, and spent what always started as a long weekend then turned into a long week, and once a long three week, get away together.

Helen sighed a soft sigh of remembrance as a warm smile appeared on her face. Those were some of the happiest days of her life. Waking up to the sound of his heart beating contentedly beneath her and the feel of his arms wrapped around her was a heaven she had never known before. They would sometimes spend whole days just laying in bed, her arms crossed beneath her head with a blissful smile on her lips, tilted towards Nikola who was propped up on his side, one hand supporting his head while the other dipped into her blonde curls pulling one straight before allowing his fingers to brush gently down her back before returning to her curls. They would murmur conversations to each other or just bathe in the silence, though the latter was more often the case.

And that was about all they really ever saw of the villa. They avoided traveling together and so sometimes one would arrive before the other, sometimes by hours, sometimes by a day. It was typically Helen who arrived first so she would just sit on a couch facing the front door with a book. The moment the door opened she would already be on her feet and walking over. By the time Nikola was inside she would be millimeters from him and moments later have her arms wrapped around his neck, mouths entangled. The next he'd be picking her up and carrying back to the bedroom. One time, she couldn't wait, and pressed him against the door. Another time, she arrived to find the house lit only by candles and rose petals trailing into the bedroom.

By far, though, her favorite memory of these favorite memories was the evening they went for a stroll on the beach. It had been raining and was finally nice out so they decided to dress and take advantage of the fading sunshine. Nikola had rolled up his pant legs precisely three times, and she had worn a shorter dress so that they could walk, hands intertwined, at the part of the beach where the waves would lap happily at their feet. As they were walking back towards the villa, Helen was closest to the waves, and she had the sudden urge to fling herself into the water. Instead she opted to kick up her foot and splash Nikola when the next wave rolled in. He looked at her indignantly and commented on how she was ruining his nice pants. She had said that he shouldn't have worn 'nice' pants to the water and proceeded to splash him again. Then before she knew it, she and Nikola were having an all out splash war in the water resulting in both of them becoming thoroughly drenched. And when they had shared a kiss the waves breaking around them she had tasted the salt in his mouth and felt his tingling electricity amplified by the water covering their bodies.

That had been their last meeting at her villa, because sadly, after only nine times of meeting at her villa the Second World War had broken out and it became unsafe for them to travel there. So their following meeting had taken place that year, 1942, during late January at her Sanctuary in Old City. Nikola, who had begun to fake his aging outwardly to the public so when the time came they could properly fake his death, had managed to slip away in total secrecy from the city for a weekend. They were going to skip that year and just meet in six years instead but then she'd…and he'd had to come so they could talk…

But that didn't matter now. All that mattered was only a few months later she had gotten a telegram from Nigel on the secure Sanctuary network that read,

"_Nikola has done it again. He is here and safe for the moment. Come as soon as possible."_

She'd had no idea what that meant but had been on the next plane to the east coast. And now here she was rolling in a car towards the Sanctuary, concern twisting her gut into a thousand knots.

When she had reached the Sanctuary she was greeted by Nigel who opened the door and helped her out.

"What's going on?"

"No time for pleasantries I see?" Nigel smiled at her.

"Your message sounded urgent…."

Nigel nodded at her as they began walking towards the door,

"Well the situation is a little dire."

"Where is Nikola?"

"Inside, barely."

Helen gave him a questioning look.

"He wanted to come greet you himself but, I told him he should stay inside if he wanted to stay hidden and keep up appearances that things are normal around here."

"What exactly is going on?" Helen asked him point blank.

Nigel sighed opening the door to let Helen inside and said.

"Nikola has got himself in trouble, yet again."

"Honestly, I thought by sharing it would bring peace not cause them to start hunting me!" stated the ever snarky voice of Nikola Tesla.

Helen turned her gaze from Nigel the moment his voice spoke, searching him out, and soon found Nikola seated in a chair across from the door.

"You sharing? I'm thoroughly shocked." Helen replied in a teasingly shocked tone.

A bemused grin plastered itself on Nikola's face. Helen took his arm as the three began walking down the hallway towards Nigel's office,

"Shocking I know but I have to keep some surprises up my sleeve or you'll get bored with me."

Helen laughed a little and Nigel rolled his eyes quietly at the pair. Then Helen asked,

"So what were you sharing, and why is it a problem?"

"Well I had thought sharing my plans for the death ray weapon would…."

"You did what?!"

Helen stopped walking and rounded on Nikola.

"I sent plans for the weapon to various governments."

"Oh Nikola how could be so stupidly reckless!"

"Yes and now," Nigel added, "he has all those governments hunting him down so he can complete it for them."

Nigel motioned them into his office, and once they were seated Helen momentarily bridged her fingers together thinking, in a way that Nigel noticed mirrored a mannerism of the only other person in the room at that moment. After a moment Helen said,

"Alright well clearly we need to think of some way to make you disappear since they won't believe you are incapable of not completing the weapon…"

"I already have an idea." Nikola informed her.

"It was my idea actually," Nigel spoke up.

"And it is?"

"Fake my death." Nikola said simply.

"…And then what?"

"We had only just decided on that when you arrived." Nigel told her.

Helen sighed,

"Well faking your death will be the easy part. It's what to do with you once you've been buried is the question."

They sat for a moment, in a pensive silence, and then Nikola suggested,

"I could always go into hiding,"

In a tone that just hinted at the fact he did not fancy that idea all that much. Helen did not particularly like it either but,

"I guess that's the only thing that can be done."

They spent the rest of the day of the day sorting out the details of Nikola's death.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: ohmyguacamole. I need to apologize for the lengthy gap between this and the last chapter. Stupid school work really just got in my way. Speaking of which, I need to dedicate this chapter to my Humanities teacher. The wonderful and very lovely Mrs. Rebecca Kipp, who taught me all I know about Romanesque and Gothic architecture and took my class on a field to St. John the Divine this past December. It is a truly gorgeous Cathedral and any fans of the real Nikola Tesla should absolutely visit it, it is simply breathtaking. Thanks for read, and the review (in advance ;] ) As always, enjoy.**

Helen had imagined, that as she sat beside James in the front pew of St. John the Divine's listening to the beautiful service being given by priests from the Serbian Orthodox Church that she would find it difficult to seem emotionally distraught. That she would have to struggle to find some tears to show the agents of various governments she knew would be lurking the crowd. She had fretted in her mind that she would not be able to keep up the act and would be the reason that the agents and governments realized Nikola was not dead. That it would be her fault his true identity came out, and then he would get hunted more than he was now.

But here she was, seated beside James, dressed in all black, tears dripping off her chin into her lap. She felt that this was a little irrational, since she was aware that Nikola was somewhere in the balconies above watching from deep within the shadows. And had she looked for him, she would indeed have seen those eyes twinkling at her dark of the third tier, watching her every move. But she didn't look, lest she gave anything away. Nonetheless she felt a little silly; she knew Nikola was alive and safe. This plan was progressing without a hitch; even the FBI had no idea the papers they had gathered were not legitimate. There was a clear plan in place for getting Nikola out this country and into hiding, and nobody but herself, James and Nigel and one or three other people knew the truth. All was well.

Looking to the casket draped in the American and Yugoslavian flag, she bit her lip and hung her head.

She was crying. She could not help it. She was worried for him. She was going to miss him, so terribly.

Once the service was over and everybody started wandering out into the arriving night Helen nodded to James and slipped into the shadows. She found the side door and slipping inside began ascending the stairs upwards. Climbing up carefully she skipped the first tier, knowing he would not have watched the service from so open an area, and as she progressed to the next she smiled to herself.

She was glad she had chosen St. John the Divine to hold the services at. Although it was technically considered a Gothic Cathedral, it had a blend of both the Romanesque and Gothic styles. It had the Romanesque columns leading from the doors back to the altar and sense of symmetry about it. The whole Cathedral oozed this sense of pride, and old world grace. But then there were the Gothic pointed arches, soaring high, high above holding up the ceiling, and of course the breathtakingly beautiful stained glass windows which were now throwing colors all over the building with the sleepy rays of the sun. All of it combined into a simply gorgeous Cathedral. And it was this she saw in Nikola. He carried himself with the old Victorian poise of gentlemanly elegance, but there was always just that hint of flashiness in the form of his giant ego and the fact his genius was years ahead of the time.

Reaching the third tier she glided back inside, certain that this was the place he would have chosen to watch, but looking around from the outline of rose windows which lined up perfectly from east to west with the actual rose window that was nestled there, found nobody but herself. Sighing she returned to the staircase and ascended up past the ceiling until she found herself exiting onto the rooftop. Lost in her thoughts she walked to stand beside a wall supporting one of the knobbed buttresses near the edge. Resting against it she peered out over the mourners leaving, over the city to the waterline, and thought sadly to herself that one day this view would be blocked by skyscrapers that were already sprouting up all around the city, the city he had lived in for so long.

She was completely unaware that Nikola was seated on the slanted part of the rooftop behind her. He did not move and barely breathed, for fear of alerting her to his presence. He wanted to watch her, and he did. He observed the way her hair glinted in the fading light, the slouched posture she had assumed. He smiled inwardly at the curve of her hips, at the way she had her head tilted against the wall to expose one side of her neck, and the saddened sigh slipping from slender lips. Rising gently he tread quietly to go comfort her, and himself.

Helen did not flinch when she felt his hands slide around her waist, or warmth of his body enveloping her back, or the weight of his head coming to rest on her shoulder. She uncrossed her arms to hold onto his hands that had taken up their usual place, holding her waist. They stood, embracing like this, for a long while, just watching the sun's flame get extinguished by the harsh line of the horizon, soaking in every last sensation of the other. The smell of her hair, his gentle but firm grip, the sound of her heart beat. Then Nikola lifted his head, his breath tickling her, as he bent in to plant a soft kiss on her neck at the exact spot where her pulse beat steadily. Helen had always secretly loved it when he did this, it was sweet and sincere, and yet hinted of wilder ideas as she knew why Nikola was really attracted to that particular spot on her neck. He kissed her on the cheek, and as he slowly lifted his lips she turned her head to look into those eyes of ever-changing color and steady emotion. Then without a word she shifted her body towards him wrapping her arms around his neck as he lifted both his hands to cup her face and pull her into his kiss.

His kiss that was all the words they couldn't find in that moment. It was all the sadness, all the longing, all the regrets, all the hope, all the insanity, and all the love that surround this goodbye.

When it ended Nikola wrapped Helen up in his arms, as she nestled against his chest.

"I promise you I'll be all right. I'll settle in and keep out of sight. Then I'll come back to you, and nobody will know. Not Watson, not the governments, not a single person. Just wait three years." He whispered.

"I'll wait ninety-nine so long as you stay alive." Helen breathed.

Helen heard the chuckle rumble deep in his chest.

"Always forgetting I'm more immortal than you."

She smiled,

"How silly of me of course you are."

They grinned together for a moment longer. Then Nikola gentle lifted Helens face so he could look in those exquisitely blue eyes. Helen leaned her head into his hand as he ran his thumb across her cheek, as he had wanted to so desperately while he watched her cry during the service.

"I love you Helen. Always will."

And then he placed a last kiss to her forehead before slipping away, through the door and away from her. Helen remained rooted to the spot, lifting her arms vainly trying to keep his body heat all to herself but it was quickly stolen by the cool breath of awakening night. She closed her eyes and took in a very deep, very slow breath that she exhaled even more slowly.

It was just three years, she had done it before. But before they could write each other, keep in touch.

She took another breath.

It was three years. She could do this.

And with the third breath Helen gathered up the mask of strength, confidence, assuredness, and wellness that she would wear all the way back to her Sanctuary, and for the next three years of her life.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: apologies on the time between chapter2 and this update. Real life is so obnoxiously distracting from the important things =] As always enjoy.**

It was the longest three years of her life. She did receive, six months later, a post card from a southern country containing no return address and with three words, "Safe, Love you" scrawled in that familiar elegant hand. And while this brought a glint of comfort it did not last long and she restlessly crossed off the days, months and years until she would be making the trip. Though she had set up the plan ever since she had returned home to Old City, when the time came for her to again visit her Villa she was nervous James suspected, but if he did he made no indication of it.

Their reunion at the villa was bittersweet. Nikola, when the world was wrapped in the coat of night, stole in through the backdoor like a thief and finding Helen curled up, asleep in the bed, only slipped under the covers to wrap himself around her and slumber beside her. This time, unlike all the prior visits, it had to be exactly a three days. No extensions going from weekends to a week to weeks. No. This time they spent the time exact amount of time that had been pre-determined together. Three days. Nothing more and nothing less than that. The moment it was the third day, Nikola and Helen shared one last lingeringly passionate kiss before he disappeared again into the night.

They were able to do this one more time.

And then she received an urgent telegram mere days before she was going to leave on what was going to be her third trip to see him. It was short, and she could feel the urgency of as she read the 9 words:

"_Helen. Do not go. Will contact when its safe."_

Folding it and putting it away her night drawer Helen could not stop worry from hugging her heart. Biting her lower lip she eagerly waited for his next communication.

That was how two years passed. Helen biting her lower lip, stealing glances at the postcard, telegram and other notes of his to her she had tucked away. Waiting.

It was where she was one night, late in October.

The sun had long since been devoured by the horizon with darkness now throttling all the light from the world with the help of the clouds wrapping around the moon and stars like a menacing scarf. Helen was seated by the window in her room, one light casting a little light about the room. The small table to her left held the now frigid remnants of her evening tea. Beside the cup rested a half folded piece of paper on which lay a note Nikola had once inscribed to her, while they had stayed at her Villa, explaining that when she awoke she should meet him on the back porch for breakfast. Helen herself was slightly slouched, hands interlaced on her lap, absent-mindedly staring out over the grounds of the Sanctuary and into the choked starlight.

The door to her room swung open. Helen, startled that anybody would be so bold as to come in without knocking, instantly turned in her seat to see who the intruder was to find Nikola already gently closing it behind him and walking to her.

"Nikola!" She gasped.

He was already seated on the ledge of her window opposite her. Helen embraced him for a long moment, before sliding her hands down his arms to meet his. Gazing into each other's eyes she asked quietly,

"What are you doing here? Not that I'm complaining…"She added smiling.

"I had to see you…" He replied, a smile just touching his lips.

"What is going on? Where…?"

"The Cabal found me."

Silence thundered down around them as what Nikola had said registered in Helen's mind causing her eyes to widen with fear.

"But how…"

"I don't know Helen and honestly that doesn't matter now. They know I'm not dead, they saw me…"

"But you got away. You're here now, you can stay here in secret and when there are no sightings of you after a while they'll give up and think they were mistaken!"

Nikola shook his head as she spoke,

"No Helen, you don't understand. They _saw_ me…"

"Oh Nikola," Helen murmured realizing, "you didn't…"

"I didn't have a choice." He answered, "They tried to capture me, and it was the only way I could escape."

Helen took deep a breath. Nikola waited to see what she would say.

"Well, now you're here and here you can stay." She smiled a little at him.

But he did not return it.

"I would love that more than anything, but I think we both know that is impossible." He stated sadly.

"But why? The Sanctuary is well fortified. And if they don't know you're here…"

"I will not put you in that kind of danger."

Nikola said in the sternest of voices cutting her off. He lifted a hand to cup her face,

"I will not your risk your life for mine."

She leaned into his hand and he bent forward placing a small kiss on her forehead.

"When it's safe, I'll come back." He whispered.

And with that he released her face and hand, stood and went to leave but Helen reached out, grabbing his hand effectively stopping him. She stood as he turned to face her, attempting to hide the heartbreak from his gaze unsuccessfully. Helen glided forward to place her other hand delicately and deliberately on Nikola's chest. His free hand rose to hold it there as she whispered,

"Stay."

Regret burned with longing in his gaze,

"I can't…"

Leaning forward Helen closed the little space between them, placing a gentle but suggestive kiss against his cheerless lips. After a moment she pulled back to lean her cheek to his and breathed into his ear,

"Just for tonight…"

Nikola replied by tilting his head to place a kiss at the base of her neck then trailed them slowly upward. Helen smiled as he placed one on her pulse, eagerly awaiting the reuniting of their lips which came moments later. He relinquished the hold on her hands, using one of his to grip her at the waist and the other to cup her face, both pulling her to him and deepening the kiss as he did so. She moaned with the pleasure as he found his way into her mouth and began slipping buttons lose on his shirt. When he went to remove himself from her mouth she pressed her hips to him a little harder and bit his lower lip. Groaning heavily Nikola he forced himself back into her mouth, ground his hips against hers and released the quiver of electricity she caused him to lose control of through the hand on her cheek. His own shirt almost completely undone he let go of her face, grabbed her at the waist, and spun her around to lay her gently onto the bed.

The love they made that night was filled with deepest of fears and the fiercest of passions.

Helen's eyes fluttered open many hours later and she expected to hear the sound of Nikola's heartbeat. No such sound came but she was half aware of a hand gently stroking her face and weight depressing the bed somewhere down by her waist. She slowly opened eyes still yearning for sleep to find Nikola's face floating above her, his hand caressing her. Smiling groggily at him she shifted slightly mumbling his name.

"No don't get up," he whispered to her.

Moving his hand to her waist to keep her lying on her side as she was, Helens mind vaguely registered that he was dressed. He then returned his hand to her face. He said nothing more and neither did she. Not for want of trying though. Three thousand thoughts must have run through his mind and not a one seemed right for him to say, in this moment of goodbye. Finally he settled on just kissing her cheek and then rose, slipping out the door. Helen settled back into the covers and her mind soon thereafter pulled her back into sleep.

A few hours later Helen again awoke. As her brain returned from the world of the unconscious Nikola's departure slammed into her mind like a freight train. Sitting up she looked around, sure it had to be a dream. But when she saw her clothes from the day before crumpled on the floor next to the bed the last cobwebs of sleep left her mind leaving only the biting memories of the night before and his silent departure this morning. Recalling the look in his eyes just before he had kissed her cheek Helen felt the tears splash onto her face. She knew that look well, it was the look he got when he was trying to tell her he loved her, but thought no words sufficient enough. Drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her head upon them Helen wept.

It would be the last time she cried for many, many years.

She waited again. Three years passed and there was nothing. Then six, then nine and soon it had been fifteen years.

Helen had never experienced such loneliness in her life. Nigel had been around for awhile, but then he disappeared with his family and never contacted her again. She had seen a fair many of those she worked with grow old and die now. Of course, James was still there miraculously. He tried to visit it her as often as their jobs would allow and wrote her frequently. They were still good friends.

But he was not Nikola.

And by July 1982 she could stand it no more.

Helen gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in 1983.

She named her Ashley.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: dearest fans, try not to get too excited about this new chapter. Twas pure luck I had time to update after so long, and I have no idea if it shall happen again, hence it is so short. I do want to continue this but the time constraints of Uni life are well, constraints. That being said, enjoy this update, I know I loved writing it! Its for the September Teslen challenge, "waiting." read and review, all reviews welcome =]**

Ashley was the light and joy of Helen's world as nothing had ever been. She was a workaholic by nature, her father's good genetics no doubt. But Ashley, Ashley was her everything.

She was a beautiful blonde haired little girl with glinting quick gray eyes. Curious about everything she was constantly snooping around and getting into all sorts of mischief. Though Helen was not swayed in the least by her young daughter's cute attempts to wriggle out of trouble and would deal out the punishment, she also harbored a very soft spot for her. Ashley was a bright child, learning to read and write quickly, and was soon far more advanced in her studies than any other child her age.

Over time Ashley was no longer a little girl, but a young woman, and then just a woman. It happened so fast Helen could hardly believe it. It seemed as though Helen blinked; she closed her eyes and Ashley was in pigtails, light up sandals, and a flower covered pink tank top and when Helen opened her eyes Ashley was wearing combat boots, a holster proudly displayed on her hip and her hair still twirled into those golden pigtails.

Helen had never tried to sway Ashley one way or the other as far as getting involved in the Sanctuaries functions. She had always encouraged Ashley to follow her heart, and do what she felt was right. But nobody else had any doubts what was right for Ashley from the moment she took her first steps in the Shoe. Mother and daughter were destined to work together. Though it troubled Helen that her daughter did not choose a more, safe, aspect of the Sanctuary work to conduct that did not lessen the pride that she felt. Ashley was the best abnormal hunter there had ever been, and Helen would know. They made quite the pairing, and though Helen would never admit it, she loved working beside her daughter. It assuaged the ache in her heart, for the first time in a long time.

But there were moments. Moments that Helen found herself caught lost in the warm sweep memories by the minute mannerisms her daughter had, a look or a phrase.

She was always waiting, and watching.

Watching when her daughter was a child, watching reaction to violence blood. She went running at the first cry echoing from her room, fearing the DNA had finally clicked in place to bring out a trait. Watching when Ashley was older, tending to the most minor of wounds on an hourly basis.

Helen watched for genetics to come into play and blemish the happy life her daughter lead.

She was always waiting.

Waiting for that click on the telegraph.

Waiting on sound of her door swinging open and then closed.

Waiting to read the familiar sloppy if not elegant script in a letter. 

Waiting to see that mischievous smile.

Then one day, in Rome, she looked up from lecture notes, and there it was. That pristine suit, that gentlemanly stance.

That mischievous smile.

That sloppy if not elegant script.

"_PS. You look hot"._

That snark.

Her heart raced, she stammered out what she hoped was Italian for taking a small pause, and if not for her Victorian grace would have sprinted out the doors. And there he was, that smug smile plastered all over his unchanged handsome face, standing with the kind of poise that isn't learned but innate, and his eyes twinkling in a way that she was certain mirrored the look in her own.

This was going to be just the beginning of a very long day.

She took a deep breath and began approaching him in what she thought was a manner that spoke of nonchalance but not indifference.

So she walked over to Nikola, hoping this meant they could finally stop waiting.

But then again, when in her life had she ever gotten that happy ending kind of deal, or something even remotely close to it?

And that was when she felt an uneasiness clench her gut.

She hoped against hope that they would both just make it out of this day alive.


End file.
